Noises During Shifting problems of the 2011 Ford Escape

Driving vehicle on 6/23/13 approximately 30 mph and it suddenly lost acceleration and began to jerk forward. "wrench" indicator appeared on dash. Pulled vehicle over and waited; however, problem continued. Vehicle would only move forward at less than 5 mph while jerking as it traveled. Have had constant problems with this vehicle since purchase. A couple months after purchase on 2011, while traveling on an interstate at 70 mph, the vehicle completely lost acceleration, almost causing a serious crash. Vehicle was pulled to side of road and towed to dealership where they had to replace the catalytic converter. Since that time, the transmission has been shifting hard and creating noises; however, the dealership has been unable find a problem. Today, the vehicle "died" again and had to be pulled of the road. Have had vehicle in the service department repeatedly to address issue; however, no fix has been provided. Now, just after the warranty expired (currently 39,104) the vehicle has failed again.

I was on my way to work and when I accelerated to pull a small incline and there was a loud pop, a real hard jerk and I had no gears at all. The wrench indicator came on, I turned my emergency flasher on, shut me engine off. Thanks goodness I was in a construction zone and the speed was reduced or else I could have been seriously injured. I restarted my engine and finally was able to get it in low to be able to make it to the nearest wide spot to get out of the middle of the 4-lane. I immediately took it to a Ford dealer in my area and they kept it 5 days and I was notified on Tuesday, that they couldn't find anything wrong. It is still doing the exact same thing, shifts hard, hesitates to shift, revs up to 5000 - 5500 rpm's but won't do over 20 mph. It jerks and make some terrible noises. Also yesterday while trying to pull a hill near my home, it would not pull it and I had a vehicle traveling behind me and all I could do was pray that he wouldn't hit me. I had to pull of the side of the road, shut my engine off in order to it to take off and pull again. I have two small children and this vehicle is not safe to have them in on the highway, it isn't safe for anyone to be on the highway in. I have did some online research and have found numerous complaints on the same make and model on mine. Ford needs to recall the vehicles and fix them before someone does get seriously hurt or even killed. Any assistance that you can provide in this matter would be greatly appreciated.